The Beginning of Us (261 page)

“My day is pretty slow tomorrow. Why, what’s up?” He sits at the bar, placing his jacket over the chair next to him. I walk over and hand him his coffee.

“Because I want to see you tomorrow.”

He lifts an eyebrow “Um…I’m confused. Why are you asking me about tomorrow?”

I walk back over to the stove. “Well, I won’t see you tonight. I’m going to stay at my house because I won’t get off work until late.” I flip his pancakes.

As soon as I put the spatula down, he spins me around and slams my body against his. “You’re staying here tonight,” he says with a hard face.

“I don’t want to wake you up when I get in. I sometimes don’t get off until around four, depending on how much cleaning we have to do once we close,” I try to explain, but he’s having none of it.

“That’s why you have a key. So you can come and go at any time. You
will
come here after you get off work.” No argument. He kisses me on the head, then walks back over and sits at the bar.

Okay!

“Oh, and here you go.” I turn back around to see a set of car keys in his hand, and they
don’t
belong to my car.

“What’s that?” I point the spatula at the truck keys, knowing exactly what they are.

“They belong to my truck. You’re driving it today, unlike yesterday when you didn’t listen to me.” He leans back in his chair crossing his arms over his chest as if I have no right to argue.

I put a hand on my hip. “Can you explain why you don’t want me to drive my car? Ruby is new and very reliable.” I turn back to flip his pancakes before putting them on a plate.

“It’s too small. Any other vehicle could run right over you. If you got in an accident, it wouldn’t keep you safe. My truck will.” He makes it sound so obvious.

I turn back to face him. “So, you’re saying that I need to sell it and get a monster truck like yours?” I can’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

“No,” he says slowly. “I’m not going to tell you to sell it. I’m just asking you to help keep me sane by driving my truck.”

I walk over to him and roughly drop the plate of pancakes down in front of him.

“Look,” he sighs, “I just want to keep you safe. Don’t you girls consider that a good thing?” he says through a mouthful of pancakes.

I laugh. “Yes.” He just wants me safe. I can understand that. I want him safe as well. “Fine, I’ll give it a trial run this week.” I take a drink of water, and he rewards me with what I’m becoming to know as his victory smile.

We visit about our plans for the day while he eats breakfast, then I wish him a good day at works as he leaves. It feels so weird being in his house without him, so I quickly head to his mom’s home.

While I’m driving to the Long’s house, I come to find I quite like his truck. She is very nice inside. Black leather seats with a DVD player in the dash and headrests, has a good Bose stereo system that I’m singing alone with Halestorm to, and it rides pretty smooth. I figure I should give her a name since I have a feeling I’ll continue driving her after this week. Hmm…I think Nadia fits her just right. The name sounds seductive, yet powerful. And she is
very
powerful. Although I can’t drive her as fast as the Z, she makes me feel like I could just run these cars right off the road to get them out of my way.

As I pull up in the Long’s drive, I see Holly and Vivian standing outside talking. They turn to see me, and Holly’s eyes get real big and Vivian starts laughing while shaking her head.

“Sam, what happened to your car? Did it break down?” Holly asks as soon as I get out of the truck.

I laugh. “No. Slade says it’s not safe because it’s so small,” I do air quotes over small, “So I’m driving Nadia.” I shrug.

Holly shakes her head. “Of course.”

“Come on, girls. Let’s get inside. We have a wedding to plan!” Vivian says as she turns to enter the house.

“Vivian, I had stopped off at the grocery store and got some cookies to bake for the guys at their office. Do you mind if I bake them in your oven?”

“Of course not, darling.”

“Thanks.”

“Have you decided on your colors yet?” Vivian asks Holly while I set out the cookies on the sheet.

“No. I can’t decide. My mom thinks I should do purple, but I really like yellow. What color do you like?” I know she is going to butt heads with her mother when it comes to her wedding. Her mom is controlling in every aspect of her life.

“It’s whatever you like, hon.”

“What about you, Sam?”

“I agree with Vivian. It’s your wedding. You pick what you want.” I set the oven to preheat then grab another cookie sheet. I set the cookies out on the sheet as the silence fills the room. I feel their eyes on me. “What?” I turn around, and they are staring at me with warm smiles on their faces. I furrow my brows. “What?” I repeat.

“What colors would you pick for your wedding?” Vivian asks.

I shake my head. “That doesn’t matter.”

“Yes it does. What would you pick?” Holly encourages me as she nods her head.

I laugh. “Do you even have to ask?” I tilt my head to the side. “Pink.”
Duh.

They laugh. “I knew that was coming,” Vivian says. I turn back around and place the cookies in the over.

“That will help us along when it comes to your wedding,” Vivian says excitedly.

I turn around, holding onto the counter for dear life, afraid I will fall to the ground since I’m no longer breathing. “What?” I ask, obviously shocked.

“For when you get married.” Holly smiles.

I shake my head so fast that their heads start to get unrecognizable.

“You don’t plan on getting married?” Holly sounds hurt.

“Uh...”

What did they want me to say? Who did they plan on me marrying? Slade? I laugh out loud. I try to cover it with a cough when they give me the ‘you’re going crazy’ look. I straighten up my shoulders and clear my throat. “I don’t know. I guess I plan on getting married in the future. The very far, far away future. Sure.”

I’m pretty sure I’ll never get married.

“Well, like I said, you will already be ahead of the curve.”

I let out a strangled breath and turn back to my cookies, completely deleting that conversation from my mind. Marriage is the last thing on my mind. I already had enough to think about; one of them being the most depressing day of my life coming up.

After I place the cookies in the oven, I go and open the fridge for a bottle of water. “Hey, you girls want some leftover cake?”

“That sounds delicious.” They both nod. I grab some plates out of the cabinet and cut us each a slice of cake.

An hour later, we have finished off what’s left over of my chocolate caramel cake and are sipping on tea. We have gone over colors, flowers, centerpieces and bridesmaids. Holly can’t make a final decision on any of them. We are still sitting in the kitchen, going over invitations, when I hear my phone ring.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Angel.” I smile as the sound of Slade’s deep voice fills my ears. “What are you doing?”

“I’m over at your parents going over wedding stuff.”

There’s a silence that fills the phone from his side of the call.

“Slade?” I ask as my voice echoes. “Why do I sound like my voice is echoing?”

He clears his throat. “Because you’re on speakerphone.” I hear quite a few of hellos.

“Hey, guys.”

“So, how’s your day going?” he asks slowly, like he’s nervous of my answer.

“Great! How about yours?” I point to an invitation I like and nod my head, looking at Holly as she frowns and shakes her head at me.

“It’s going pretty good,” he says quickly.

“That’s good. Have you decided where you want lunch from?”

“Yeah. Everyone decided on Applebee’s. What would you like? I’ll go ahead and place the order so it will be ready when you get there.”

“I’ll have a grilled chicken Caesar salad.”

“Okay, Angel. Oh hey, how was the truck? Did you have any problems with it? I know it’s pretty big,” he chuckles.

Does he think I can’t handle her?

“Nope. I’m actually quite fond of Nadia.”

“Huh? Who’s Nadia?” he laughs.

“Your truck. I named her Nadia.” I hear the guys laughing.

“Hmm, Nadia,” he repeats. “I like it. Sounds sexy. Okay, Angel. I’m going to get off here, but I’ll see you in a bit. Drive safe!”

“You know me,” I smile.

“Yes, I do. That’s why I want you driving my truck and not that tiny car.”

“Ha-Ha. You’re so funny. I will be there soon.” I hang up.

“Hey girls, I need to get out of here. I have to take the guys their lunch.”

I hug them and grab my cookies, then climb back up into Nadia and head off to Applebee’s.

Chapter Sixteen

Slade

I hang up the phone and start setting out legal documents. After I’m done, I lean back in my chair and everyone staring at me.

“What?” I ask no one in particular.

“Nothing.”

Everyone drops their heads down as they pick up their pens. I notice my dad and Micah still staring at me, though, with big smiles on their face. They know the truth. They know I’ve fallen in love with her. I want to tell her, but I don’t want her to feel pressured to say it back. I know she’s fighting an inner battle now, so I will continue to give her time.

“Mr. Long?’’ Rose says over the intercom.

“Yes, Rose?”

“Samantha is here.” Rose sounds awfully cheerful, and she called Angel by her first name. It makes me smile.

“Okay. Send her on in here. Thanks.” I stand up, helping everyone get the papers off of the table.

The doors open and Rose helps Angel bring in all the sacks of food.

I jump out of my chair. “Sorry, Angel. I forgot how much food we all ordered.” I walk over to her and give her a kiss on the cheek as I take a few bags out of her hand.

“It’s okay.” She puts the bags she has left in her hands on the table and starts rattling off and giving everyone their orders.

After I place the bags on the table, I just sit back in my chair and look at her. She’s wearing a white sun dress that makes her skin look extra tan and stops right above her knees. I wish we were alone so I could just bend her over the table and lift up her skirt as I buried my dick into her wet pussy.

I give myself a little shake as my pants get a bit tighter. I take a good look at her legs. I can’t see any scratches anymore. They have all gone away. My eyes move down to her pink heels. They make her the perfect height to bend over this table.

I hear her laughing, and it brings my eyes up to her face. I can’t help the smile on my face as I watch her visit with my coworkers. Every time she looks at one of them, they get a big smile on their face. She could have any man she wants, but she picked me. Why would she pick me? I’ve never done anything to deserve such a sweet angel.

“Baby?” I shake my head and look over at her. She’s standing in front of me, placing my food on the table.

“Thank you, Angel.” I lean up and kiss her.

“Thank you for your help, Rose,” she says as she starts picking up all the empty sacks.

“Oh, no problem. You guys better save room for dessert. Samantha made cookies, and they are delicious.” She walks out the door, taking her lunch with her.

“You made cookies?” I look at Angel.

“Yep. I made them at your parents’ house while we were going over wedding stuff.”

I just shake my head, trying to ignore the word wedding. She’s unbelievable.